Barack Obama: Rival suffers from 'Romnesia'

FAIRFAX, Va. -- President Barack Obama Friday accused his Republican opponent of having a bad case of "Romnesia" -- changing positions when politically expedient.

Mitt Romney responded, saying the president was engaging in "petty attacks and silly word games" just 18 days before the election.

Romney has been widely seen as tacking to the center this fall to attract moderate voters, away from the self-described "severely conservative" candidate of the Republican primaries.

"I mean, he's changing up so much and backtracking and sidestepping, we've got to name this condition that he's going through. I think it's called Romnesia," Obama said to laughter and cheers at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., where he spoke to a midday rally of 8,000. "That's what it's called. I think that's what he's going through."

"If you come down with a case of Romnesia and you can't seem to remember the policies that are still on your website or the promises that you've made over the six years that you've been running for president, here's the good news: Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions," Obama, 51, said in a reference to the health care law enacted in 2010.

Romney, during a raucous rally Friday in Daytona Beach, Fla., also accused Obama of having no second-term agenda.

He dubbed Obama's bid "the incredible shrinking campaign."

Romney, 65, campaigned with his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

Obama and Romney were squeezing in one last burst of campaigning Friday before they hunker down for the weekend to prepare for their final debate Monday night in Boca Raton, Fla.

A CNN/ORC poll released Friday afternoon showed a virtual tie in Florida, the biggest electoral prize among the states both campaigns view as the most competitive.

The survey shows Romney backed by 49 percent, Obama by 48 percent, a difference well within the poll's error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Romney arrived in Florida, after winning the endorsement of the Orlando Sentinel. Another major Florida newspaper, The Tampa Bay Times, endorsed Obama.

The Salt Lake Tribune in Utah also backed the president.

Ahead of the debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Obama will spend the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, while Romney will encamp in Delray Beach, Fla. The final faceoff between the men will focus on foreign policy.

Data released Friday showed unemployment rates fell last month in nearly all of the battleground states that will determine the presidential winner, giving Obama fodder to argue that voters should stick with him in an election focused squarely on the economy.

The declines, however, were modest, and it's unknown whether they will do much to sway undecided voters.